Users of computing devices commonly access applications, such as mapping applications, in order to obtain directions or to identify a particular building or other point of interest. For example, a user may enter a query that is intended to locate businesses of a certain type, such as restaurants, in the proximity of the user. Based upon this query, the computing device may display an image that provides a visual representation of the buildings in the proximity of the user with the restaurants within those buildings being identified. Alternatively, a user may request directions to a particular address or a particular point of interest with the computing device then providing an indication of the directions, such as in terms of a written series of directions or a graphical representation of a route to the particular address or point of interest.
The visual representation of the buildings as provided by a mapping or other application may be three dimensional. As such, the visual representation of a building may not only define the footprint of the building relative to the various streets or other avenues, but may also provide an indication of the height of the building. Thus, taller buildings are visually represented so as to have a greater height than shorter buildings. In this regard, the three-dimensional visual representation of the buildings is intended to provide additional information to the user in order to permit the user to recognize their surroundings and more easily interpret the information provided by the display, such as the location of a selected building or point of interest or a route to an intended destination. Nonetheless, the additional information provided by a three-dimensional visual representation of the buildings may sometimes provide for such a complex display that the information solicited by the user is more challenging to identify than would be desirable.